Deadly earthquake shakes southern Peru

Two people were killed when a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook Peru on Sunday, according to a regional governor....

Posted: Jan 15, 2018 7:00 AM

Updated: Jan 15, 2018 7:00 AM

Two people were killed when a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook Peru on Sunday, according to a regional governor.

One of the two victims was a 55-year-old man crushed by a rock in Yauca, tweeted Yamila Osorio, governor of the Arequipa region in southern Peru. The other victim died in the same region, Hernando Tavera, president of the Geophysics Institute of Peru, told TV Peru, without providing further details.

At least 65 people have been injured in the cities of Arequipa, Ica and Ayacucho, also in southern Peru, the National Civil Defense Institute reported.

The earthquake, which struck just after 4 a.m. local time, was centered near the coast of Peru, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south-southwest of Acari, according to the US Geological Survey. Acari is about an eight-hour drive down the coast from Lima, the capital.

The quake produced no tsunami threat, the USGS said.

Though it damaged roads in the region, ports and airports continue to operate normally, reported Andina, the state-run news agency.

"At this moment, we are heading from Marcona to Acari and Chala (Arequipa), zones affected by the earthquake overnight, to verify the magnitude of the damages and to send the corresponding humanitarian assistance," President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski tweeted in Spanish on Sunday morning.

Acari is about 30 miles east of Marcona district; Chala is about 65 miles away. An Andina photo showed Kuczynski aboard a plane, surveying the situation below.